When admiring a painting
Deng Ming-Tao 365 Tao Meditations
Don’t examine the paint
When meeting an artist
Don’t ask to look at the brush
“Oh, you must have a good camera?,” is a question that often comes up when someone looks at a selection of our bird pictures. No one on an operating table ask the surgeon what brand of scalpel they are using.
The apocryphal story is told of a conversation at a photographic exhibtion in New York of Henri Cartier-Bresson’s work.
A visitor, a Texan oil millionare, asked HCB, “Well, what camera do you use?” HCB replied, “A Leica.” The visitor turned to his son, who was standing nearby, and said, “Well son, we gotta get you one of them Leekas so you can take great photos too,” and walked off.
The essence of a great meal is not to be found by asking the Chef, what kind of Knife or Saucepan they use, but rather in appreciating the artist’s genius for assembling all the right elements for an outstanding meal.
Often we might look at a photograph, examine the tech specs of ISO, Time, Aperture, Lens and Camera type, and miss the beauty that the photo expresses.
The same comes from watching birds at work. It’s easy to be caught away by the physics, or biology, the math, or any one of a number of scientific outlooks. So willing to define the birds actions that we fail to comprehend the whole.
Just to watch this Egret as it moved slowly from spot to spot along the pond, made taking the photo seem like a secondary action. The real beauty was in enjoying the sheer elegance of this creature and its ability to apply just the right science to delicately land barely rippling the water.
It was like being at one with the bird and and its skills.
Birds as Poetry —— Just because I WANDER doesn't mean I'm LOST 
Very well said, David! It is wonderful just to see the bird as a beautiful creation doing what it does best!
To me, although they help, it is not camera settings that necessarily make a great image! The great image is one that has the art of the photographer and is a part of them!
Dave N
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This is such a beautiful image David. And yes, the image is definitely by you, not the camera!
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A well placed and poignant argument David, sad many miss the point, and the artistic beauty captured in the majestic mindful moment.
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It’s sad to think that some think that buying a certain type of camera will give them a wonderful photo! Yesterday, I stumbled across a large flock of Terns at the end of a sandspit. My first thought was, “How on earth am I going to photograph this big flock???”.
Carefully and slowly (so as not to panic the birds), I edged my way towards a large log upon which to sit; it took around 15 minutes to travel those last 30 feet but only one bird took to the air, and anyway: I think she or he was off on a fishing expedition!
Within seconds of sitting on that log, the photo opportunities became apparent: a lot of the birds were feeding off-spring, and then setting off to catch another tasty morsel. I was spoilt for choice, though whether I did the birds justice will be for others to decide! (Though I’m pleased with the results!).
However, I became so engrossed in the photographic opportunities that the birds kindly offered me that at one stage I didn’t notice the slightly bigger wave that swept around my log, leaving me with two rather sodden shoes!
Thirty minutes later, I tip-toed away from the flock, feeling very honoured that they had allowed me to enjoy a very special few minutes observing their comings and goings, and for allowing me to actually record some of those comings and goings on an SD Card…! As it happens, I was using a Canon 800D DSLR with a 100-400mm Lens, but the photos would probably have been just about as good had I been using a little “Point And Shoot” SX740 with its built-in telescopic lens…!!! And to – um – slightly paraphrase what someone has very recently written, “It was like being at one with the birds and their skills!”
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